How does this water pump housing come off?

The housing comes out from the front, 6 bolts and 2 nuts. The top pipe slides into the housing (uses an o-ring), the lower one has a flange gasket. Have you tried prying (gently) between the rear flange plate and pump housing at the top. You can find service info at the link below.

http://oregonstate.edu/~tongt/camry

If all the bolts are off in the timing area then it should come off(pry off). Heres a tip for you.. when reassembling the unit make sure the o ring seals nice and tight. Use extra sealant if necessary. When I did my timing belt my o ring (included in the waterpump kit) was crappy and caused leaking.

For future reference... I sprayed a little silicone lubricant into the opening around the top coolant line. That made the oring slippery enough for the housing to slid off easy.

Do you have to take the housing off or can you just loosen the bracket holding the metal pipes going into it and pull the pipes out? Is it necessary to replace the o-ring and gasket while changing the pump? Can you go back later and change them without removing the timing belt and water pump? Still can't figure out how to get the housing off. Any help is appreciated.

mikec35 said:

Still can't figure out how to get the housing off. Any help is appreciated.

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Your problem might be that previously the flange gasket was coated with a sealant prior to assembly. Now that sealant is acting as a glue holding the flange on. If all your fasteners are off then I would try tapping carefully on the end of the flange studs with a soft hammer head or using a thin scraper to separate the flange. Be careful not to damage the sealing surface.

The use of silicone might be ok to help the o-ring come loose, but using silicone on o-rings is usually not a good idea for re-assembly as it can harm seals if they are not compatible with silcone.

why are you taking the housing off? is it leaking?

No need to take off the housing unless you have a seal leak in this area.

toyomoho said:

No need to take off the housing unless you have a seal leak in this area.

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No, no need, but given the amount of work needed to replace the o-ring I would put a new one on while you're there. Especially if you don't know the service history of the car.

Stillrunning said:

No, no need, but given the amount of work needed to replace the o-ring I would put a new one on while you're there. Especially if you don't know the service history of the car.

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+1

The housing is not leaking, I am just there replacing the water pump and thought it might be a good idea to replace those gaskets as well. To replace the "O" ring do you just loosen the bracket on the hard lines going into the housing and pull out? Thanks for all the advice!

mikec35 said:

To replace the "O" ring do you just loosen the bracket on the hard lines going into the housing and pull out?

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Yes, remove the two flange nuts and pull the housing off. Make sure your other housing mounting bolts are off as well, the ones that hold the housing on not the ones that hold the two halves together. The new o-ring slips onto the hard pipe. Use a little anti-freeze as lub and also on the housing side of the o-ring. Make sure there is no scale on the o-ring mating surface of the housing. I use about 800 grit emery to smooth that surface a little. Rub it in a circular motion around the bore not an in and out motion as the coolant would flow. No need for any sealant there. I would not use sealant on the gasket either as it will be hard to pull the WP off the next time.

Repair manual instructions recommend soapy water as lubricant for O-rings and gasket.

I have a Mitsubishi with the same o-ring setup in the back of the water pump. That FSM says to use a little anti-freeze. Soapy water will be fine. Just don't use oil based or silicone based lub or dry fit.

Just don't use oil based or silicone based lub or dry fit.

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Yeah, I only used silicone to get the housing off since I knew I was replacing the o-ring anyway. I used soapy water to lubricate the new o-ring for reassembly.